Don't blame all conservatives

[The Barbarian]

There's a tendency among many Americans to label all republicans as crazed purveyors of conspiracy theories and anti-science lunacy. It's not true:

Whether it’s anti-vaccine messaging or falsehoods about the 2020 election, it’s easy to blame conservatives or Republicans as a group for spreading misinformation, as many in the media and academia have done. But this message is oversimplified, and anyone who wants to fight back against the very real scourge of fake news in American politics should look more closely.

In newly published research, we found that it’s not conservatives in general who tend to promote false information, but rather a smaller subset of them who also share two psychological traits: low levels of conscientiousness and an appetite for chaos. Importantly, we found that several other factors we tested for — including support for former President Donald Trump — did not reliably predict an inclination to share misinformation.
We Found the One Group of Americans Who Are Most Likely to Spread Fake News

Worth investigating. Who are these people, peddling increasingly weird misinformation?

 

[SkyWriting]

There's a tendency among many Americans to label all republicans as crazed purveyors of conspiracy theories and anti-science lunacy. It's not true:

Whether it’s anti-vaccine messaging or falsehoods about the 2020 election, it’s easy to blame conservatives or Republicans as a group for spreading misinformation, as many in the media and academia have done. But this message is oversimplified, and anyone who wants to fight back against the very real scourge of fake news in American politics should look more closely.

In newly published research, we found that it’s not conservatives in general who tend to promote false information, but rather a smaller subset of them who also share two psychological traits: low levels of conscientiousness and an appetite for chaos. Importantly, we found that several other factors we tested for — including support for former President Donald Trump — did not reliably predict an inclination to share misinformation.
We Found the One Group of Americans Who Are Most Likely to Spread Fake News

Worth investigating. Who are these people, peddling increasingly weird misinformation?

It's True. Their chosen leader has never disavowed a single creator of the Chaos. Even those who don't believe in Chaos continue to support #1 Crazy Guy. Even strong Christians fully support a guy who has zero spiritually himself.

 

[RDKirk]

From the link:

Unfortunately, in two studies, we found that fact-checking warnings were inadequate: LCCs continued to share fake news stories at a higher rate compared with liberals and high-conscientiousness conservatives, despite being told the news was inaccurate.

I keep telling you, it's a spiritual delusion.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness -- Romans 1

 

[Fantine]

I think it is incumbent on any political party to root out the corruption in their midst. Sadly, too many Republicans may disagree with these chaotic troublemakers privately but, by failing to call them out, are complicit in their actions.

 

[JustOneWay]

There's a tendency among many Americans to label all republicans as crazed purveyors of conspiracy theories and anti-science lunacy. It's not true:

Whether it’s anti-vaccine messaging or falsehoods about the 2020 election, it’s easy to blame conservatives or Republicans as a group for spreading misinformation, as many in the media and academia have done. But this message is oversimplified, and anyone who wants to fight back against the very real scourge of fake news in American politics should look more closely.

In newly published research, we found that it’s not conservatives in general who tend to promote false information, but rather a smaller subset of them who also share two psychological traits: low levels of conscientiousness and an appetite for chaos. Importantly, we found that several other factors we tested for — including support for former President Donald Trump — did not reliably predict an inclination to share misinformation.
We Found the One Group of Americans Who Are Most Likely to Spread Fake News

Worth investigating. Who are these people, peddling increasingly weird misinformation?

Interesting point. Most republicans are not crazed purveyors of conspiracy theories, just 'useful idiots' (see definition) to the conspiracy theories passed on by a few republicans. After all, as of November 2021, 73% of republicans still believe Biden was not the legitimate winner of the election.
One year on, Republicans still don’t consider Biden the rightful winner

I am not sure viewing republicans in this alternate light does them any good.

 

[spiritfilledjm]

Ok, that article gave me a headache. I guess I am what they would call a "High-Conscientious" Conservative because I am a conservative who does try to make sure I fact check my articles and when presented with proof that what I shared was false, I delete it. However, attaching high or low conscientiousness to conservatives is not accurate to do because that is dependent on the results of the survey itself. Conscientiousness is defined as a person who is responsible and reliable. The results of the survey itself determine that, namely if they would share information despite what the fact-checkers say. So, for the survey, conscientiousness is determined by their willingness to share what fact-checkers deem to be false.

The biggest issue I have with the article is its call for censorship and discrimination against those that it deems more likely to share false information. That, in and of itself, is the biggest threat to democracy. It wasn't all that long ago that any form of censorship was looked down on by liberals, now they're the ones fighting for it.

 

[JustOneWay]

It wasn't all that long ago that any form of censorship was looked down on by liberals, now they're the ones fighting for it.

Really? CRT much?

 

[RDKirk]

I think it is incumbent on any political party to root out the corruption in their midst. Sadly, too many Republicans may disagree with these chaotic troublemakers privately but, by failing to call them out, are complicit in their actions.

True on both sides.

 

[RDKirk]

The biggest issue I have with the article is its call for censorship and discrimination against those that it deems more likely to share false information. That, in and of itself, is the biggest threat to democracy. It wasn't all that long ago that any form of censorship was looked down on by liberals, now they're the ones fighting for it.

It's always been illegal to shout "Fire" in a theater...unless there actually is a fire.

Let's be sure we are accurate as to what "censorship" really means. Technically, only the government can censor speech.

No private individual or business is obligated to expend their own resources to support anyone else's speech, and certainly not falsehoods. Not even liberals ever considered their own printing presses obligated to print leaflets for conservatives.

 

[The Barbarian]

No private individual or business is obligated to expend their own resources to support anyone else's speech, and certainly not falsehoods. Not even liberals ever considered their own printing presses obligated to print leaflets for conservatives.

Today's winner.

Freedom of speech and press is the right to say and print what you will, without government stepping in to stop you. No one has the right to demand that anyone else broadcast or print their opinions.

Refusing to agree with one's speech is not "censorship." Ironically, those who claim it is, are merely attempting to impose their own censorship on others.

 

[spiritfilledjm]

It's always been illegal to shout "Fire" in a theater...unless there actually is a fire.

Let's be sure we are accurate as to what "censorship" really means. Technically, only the government can censor speech.

No private individual or business is obligated to expend their own resources to support anyone else's speech, and certainly not falsehoods. Not even liberals ever considered their own printing presses obligated to print leaflets for conservatives.

Sounds like the arguments that racists used to make sure that minorities stayed out of their businesses...

 

[The Barbarian]

I think it is incumbent on any political party to root out the corruption in their midst. Sadly, too many Republicans may disagree with these chaotic troublemakers privately but, by failing to call them out, are complicit in their actions.

It's um, interesting to see videos of republican leaders castigating Trump for inciting the Jan 6 insurrection, and then their frantic denials when he calls them out for it.

 

[Valletta]

There's a tendency among many Americans to label all republicans as crazed purveyors of conspiracy theories and anti-science lunacy. It's not true:

Whether it’s anti-vaccine messaging or falsehoods about the 2020 election, it’s easy to blame conservatives or Republicans as a group for spreading misinformation, as many in the media and academia have done. But this message is oversimplified, and anyone who wants to fight back against the very real scourge of fake news in American politics should look more closely.

In newly published research, we found that it’s not conservatives in general who tend to promote false information, but rather a smaller subset of them who also share two psychological traits: low levels of conscientiousness and an appetite for chaos. Importantly, we found that several other factors we tested for — including support for former President Donald Trump — did not reliably predict an inclination to share misinformation.
We Found the One Group of Americans Who Are Most Likely to Spread Fake News

Worth investigating. Who are these people, peddling increasingly weird misinformation?

The Russia Russia Russia hoax was one of the most widely spread hoaxes, accepted by so many liberals I think because of the hatred that has been generated for President Trump. They go really crazy, blaming the guy for almost every problem. I thought he was rather a crude guy but have dealt with the media before and so am naturally skeptical until I can see the evidence for myself.

 

[JustOneWay]

The Russia Russia Russia hoax was one of the most widely spread hoaxes, accepted by so many liberals I think because of the hatred that has been generated for President Trump. They go really crazy, blaming the guy for almost every problem. I thought he was rather a crude guy but have dealt with the media before and so am naturally skeptical until I can see the evidence for myself.

What part of the Russian interference was a hoax? We know they did that. What was unclear was Trump's part, but it was no hoax.

Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election
https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/download

 

[Valletta]

What part of the Russian interference was a hoax? We know they did that. What was unclear was Trump's part, but it was no hoax.

It was false information about the Trumps that major media outlets claimed was verified when it was not.

 

[JustOneWay]

It was false information about the Trumps that major media outlets claimed was verified when it was not.

That's real vague. Got any concrete evidence?

 

[JustOneWay]

It was false information about the Trumps that major media outlets claimed was verified when it was not.

You call it a hoax only because Trump and republicans called it that from day 1.

 

[The Barbarian]

The Russia Russia Russia hoax was one of the most widely spread hoaxes, accepted by so many liberals I think because of the hatred that has been generated for President Trump.

The revelation that Russian agents were actively working for Trump in the 2016 election pretty much settled that. The CIA nailed that down pretty quickly...

Russian officials busted on tape

Washington: Senior Russian officials celebrated Donald Trump’s victory as a geopolitical win for Moscow, it was reported yesterday as US spy chiefs insisted they had strong evidence the Kremlin mounted an unprecedented bid to disrupt the US election. The Washington Post cited US officials who said intercepted communications showed the Russians congratulating themselves on the outcome, including some who US officials believe had knowledge of the country’s cyber campaign.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...099406-d355-11e6-9cb0-54ab630851e8_story.html

 

[The Barbarian]

Putin didn't like Trump that much. He merely wanted to damage the U.S. as much as possible, and putting a weak, corrupt person in the WH served his purposes. Whether or not Putin had something to blackmail Trump over is not clear, but it's clear that Trump was very docile in Putin's presence:

 

[Confused-by-christianity]

...Who are these people, peddling increasingly weird misinformation?

My assumption is - part of the answer is -

• people love to read whatever gets their blood up. Dangers, threats, attacks, secret conspiracies to harm the tribe. There is misinformation out there because there is demand for sensationalism.
• There was a report released in the UK saying that Russia engages in - disinformation and influence campaigns against the UK. I assume China does this too. I assume the USA is under the same sort of campaigns.
• My opinion here, I could be wrong, but it seems common sense to say that you have a duty to the truth. Seek the truth and be ruthless with yourself. Our freedom of speech comes with that duty. When people don't recognise their duty to truth - you will have problems. Namely - more chance of everyone running their mouths wrecklessly, more rubbish to sift through and sort.
• Confusion mixed with arrogance. Part of our duty to the truth is recognising that we aren't that smart and don't know that much. Admit that, and you can learn. So many people seem to speak like they have it all figured out, then you dig a little deeper and find their picture of the world is actually pretty shallow. This alone isn't so bad, but when people everywhere arrogantly assert their opinion as truth - you have a problem.

To answer your question, "Who are these people, peddling increasingly weird misinformation?" - We are, collectively.
We can improve the situation ourselves by

• Not generating demand for sensational "news".
• Treat people in your country like neighbours instead of behaving like tribes of opposing ideologies who hate each other. You can only do your bit, you can't force the whole to change.
• Value truth above tribal loyalty or your own ego.
• We could make sure we clearly define in our minds the difference between truth and opinion.